The Nation Newspaper

Category: Pension

  • Insurance loses N50b to fake third party motor yearly

    Insurance loses N50b to fake third party motor yearly

    The insurance sector is losing over N50 billion to fake Third Party Motor Insurance annually, investigation by The Nation has revealed.

    This is going by the Federal Road Safety Commission’s (FRSC’s) recent report that 12 million registered vehicles, including private and commercial, ply the roads.

    Also, latest report from the Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) showed that only three million vehicles are insured.

    Third Party Motor policy costs N5,000 for private saloons, sport utility  vehiles and Jeeps, while commercial vehicles owners pay N7,500.

    NIA Director-General Sunday Thomas said it was mandatory for motorists to have the policy before hiting the road.

    He said Section 38 of the National Insurance Act 2003 states that Third Party Motor Insurance was required as part of the minimum amount of auto cover one must have to carry on as a car owner. Penalties for non-compliance include a fine of up to N250,000 and, or one-year imprisonment.

    He disclosed that only three million  vehicles were insured in the country.

    ‘’Over 12 million are without valid insurance. Their lack of valid insurance is a huge loss to the industry. We are losing premium income annually,’’ he said.

    On the importance of Third Party Motor Insurance, chairman, Boff & Company Insurance Brokers Limited, Mr Babajide Olatunde-Agbeja, said: “If you have third party motor insurance, immediately you are involved in an accident, your insurer will pay third party claims to the tune of N1 million for a N5,000 premium.

    “So, if you hit somebody’s car from the rare, you need not to worry. Just say ‘I am sorry, it’s a mistake’ to the driver. Tell him, ‘this is my insurance cov er, my insurance broker will call you and fix it,’ simple and within a week, the damaged car will be repaired.

    “The massive loss incurred by the industry on yearly basis is saddening. This is because motorists have refused to obtain genuine insurance, but if the industry can get this huge fund, it will increase its contribution to GDP, have more funds to increase insurance awareness, engage in more CSR projects, among other beneficial projects,” he added.

  • CIIN takes insurance campaign to Kano

    •Donates textbooks

    The Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II, has called on the business community, especially in the North, to embrace insurance.

    The monarch made the call when the the Chartered Institute of Insurance of Nigeria (CIIN), led by its President, Lady Isioma Chukwuma, visited him in his palace as part of the institute’s campaign to promote insurance education and awareness.

    He said insurance helps to mitigate losses.

    The Emir, who pointed out that insurance penetration in Nigeria was very low compared to other countries, urged the institute to boost its awareness.

    Lady Chukwuma said insurance campaign formed part of the institute’s statutory functions.

    She said the institute had donated 100 copies of its Insurance Textbook for Secondary Schools to schools within the palace vicinity.

    She added that the institute also donated another 400 copies of the  textbook to the state Ministry of Education, adding that they were received by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Alhaji Danlami Garba.

    The donation was borne out of the desire of the institute to further strengthen the teaching and study of insurance in Nigeria, she said. She expressed the institute’s desire to partner the state Ministry of Education to train insurance teachers in the state on how to effectively teach the subject at the secondary school level.

    Garba assured the institute that the government would support it by ensuring that the ministry embraced insurance in its schools and urged pupils to take up the subject.

    He expressed the state’s commitment to partner the institute in training insurance teachers, adding that the objective was to have at least one insurance teacher in each  school in the state.

    CIIN Director-General, Mr. Richard Olutayo Borokini, said the institute was committed to taking its insurance education and awareness drive across the country as it had  done in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Edo, Rivers and Imo States.

  • AXA Mansard gets awards

    AXA Mansard has been won the Best In-House Legal Team in the Insurance category for the second time at the ESQ Nigerian Legal Awards.

    Its Company Secretary, Omowunmi Adewusi, also received an outstanding recognition in the 40 under 40 legal practitioners category at the award which recently held at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The awards is an annual event that celebrates the unique contributions of lawyers to economic re-engineering and growth of businesses in Nigeria.

    On the recognition, Mrs. Adewusi said the company’s culture of integrity, professionalism, team spirit and the continuous desire for excellence were some of the factors that qualified the team for the awards. She added that the firm would continue to redefine standards.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Legal Blitz Limited, Lere Fashola, explained that the awards was designed to recognise the contribution the legal business community makes to the development of the economy.

    The AXA Group is a worldwide leader in insurance and asset management, with 166,000 employees serving 103 million clients in 64 countries. In 2015, IFRS revenues amounted to Euro 99 billion and IFRS underlying earnings to Euro 5.6 billion. AXA had Euro 1,363 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2015.

  • PTAD, EFCC partner against fraudsters

    The presence of some Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials has helped in warding off fraudsters from verification centres of pensioners under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS), Executive Secretary, Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), Ms. Sharon Ikeazor, has said.

    She made this known during a visit to the EFCC Chairman, Ibrahim Magu, in Abuja.

    According to her, an integral aspect of pension management was the credibility of the payroll and data base available for benefit computation and analysis.

    She stated that this was why they embarked on the nationwide verification of the pensioners under their jurisdiction.

    She said: “The EFCC has been very supportive and of great assistance during our verification exercises and PTAD is appreciative of this. We are grateful to members of staff of EFCC who accompanied our team and worked with them at the verification centres.

    “Also, the Commission’s assistance and tremendous support is also highly valued in the recovery of pension assets that are currently in the possession of insurance companies and defunct Boards of Trustees (BOT) of concerned Parastatals. We thank you for the progress made so far and look forward to gaining more ground in this area.”

    Ms. Ikeazor further said PTAD has continued to build upon its institutional frameworks, processes and systems needed to run a sensitive operation such as pension administration.

    The verification is continuing towards establishing a credible, authentic and digitised database of pensioners under the DBS, eliminating duplicate payments and ghost pensioners, regularising anomalies such as over payments and under payments and updating the records of the Next Of Kin (NOK)

  • Nigeria, seven others mull special policies for micro-insurance

    Nigeria and seven other countries are considering some special policies for micro-insurance to speed up its development, an insurance expert, Prof Festus Moboluwaji Epetimehin, has said.

    He spoke at the 6th Inuagural Lecture of the Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji in Osun State.

    The other countries, according to him, are Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia.

    He said some African countries were making efforts to reel out measures and policies that would speed up the acceptance of micro-insurance.

    Epetimehin, whose lecture was anchored on “Small but Big: Micro-insurance and the reduction of social risk of poverty”  said: “Currently, some African nations, such as Nigeria, Ethiopia, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa and Zambia, are in the process of considering special policies and regulatory frameworks to spur micro-insurance market development.”

    Epetimehin tasked African governments to learn from policy approaches at the global level.

    He said: “Across the globe, many governments particularly finance ministries, financial sector regulators and insurance supervisors have recognised that expanding the insurance sector to include broader population segments can spur economic development and welfare.

    “The creation of a financial sector characterised by competition, market efficiency and outreach is on the development agenda of numerous governments in Africa.”

    Enabling policies and regulations, along with effective supervision, facilitate the growth of private-sector involvement and enhance the distribution and quality of micro-insurance.

     

  • ‘Salary increase’ll boost contributory pension’

    ‘Salary increase’ll boost contributory pension’

    A significant way of sustaining the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) is to have a timely increase in the salary of workers, to avoid issues of low contribution into their Retirement Savings Account (RSA), the General Secretary, National Union of Textile and Garment Workers of Nigeria (NUTGWN), Comrade Isa Aremu, has said.

    Speaking with reporters in Abuja, he advised the National Pension Commission (PenCom) to work harder to capture the informal sector.

    According to him, of the 80 million working population in the country, only seven million people are captured in the scheme.

    He commended PenCom for its management of the scheme and leadership role in the pension industry in the past 12 years.

    Aremu said: “There is a lot of work to be done in order for PenCom to capture the rest of the working population in the country, especially the informal sector which has a larger percentage of the working population in the country.

    “Of 80 million workforce in the country, only seven million workers have been captured. So I think we have actually not started. This scheme is just a new baby that has to be nurtured to capture the army of worker, both in the formal and informal sectors.

    “The CPS introduced to the pension industry is the best way to go in achieving an organised pension administration. The workers who have retired under this scheme have received their payment as at when due compared to the previous scheme. This makes the scheme highly commendable.”

    He warned that the pension industry should not be carried away by the investment of the funds under their management, but bear in mind the security of those funds to give back the pension to workers who are eligible for it when they can work no more.

  • NUP chief praises PTAD

    The establishment of Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) is the best thing to have happened to pensioners under the Defined Benefits Scheme (DBS), the National President, Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP), Dr. Abel Afolayan, has said.

    He spoke during a visit to the Executive Secretary of PTAD, Ms Sharon Ikeazor.

    According to Afolalayan, the creation of PTAD had led to a turnaround in the fortunes of pensioners who were under the old scheme.

    He applauded the agency for their monthly pension, noting that it is up to date, and payment of 24 months of 33 per cent arrears.

    He said Ms Ikeazor started well as the head of the agency and that prnsioners had no doubt that as a mother, she would help in solving  their problems.

    The executive secretary thanked the NUP for supporting PTAD over the years, adding that the agency is dedicated to assisting the pensioners.

    ‘’Our focus is to make sure that our pensioners, who have earned their pensions and gratuities by working hard in their active years, get all due entitlements without delay. I will work closely with the NUP and other pension unions to make the administration of pensions under the DBS a pleasurable experience,’’ she added.

    Other issues discussed at the meeting included the resumption of the nationwide Civil Service verification , which started in the last quarter of the year, the balance of the 33 per cent pension increase as well as the due increase in pensions.

    Members of the NUP delegation include the General Secretary Elder Actor Zal, National Treasurer Comrade Godwin Abumisi, Alu Audi Moh’d, Comrade Bunmi Ogunkolari and Alhaji A. I. Gazali.

  • Stanbic IBTC Pension lauds customers over award

    Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers Limited has said its customers’ support was instrumental to its winning the Africa Pension Awards’ ICT Innovation Operator award for 2016.

    Stanbic IBTC Pension Chief Executive, Eric Fajemisin, made this known in a statement made available to reporters in Lagos.

    He said the award presented at the recently-held World Pension Summit in Abuja was in recognition of the efficient deployment of Information  Communication Technology (ICT) for excellent customer service delivery as confirmed by the awards organisers.

    Fajemisin said as the leading Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) in the country, innovation had been at the heart of the company’s strategy to build better relationships with customers, deliver improved and convenient services that will ensure retirement savings account holders have peace of mind.

    He listed some of the innovative services introduced for convenience, accessibility, quality, and efficiency to include its 24-hour multilingual contact centre, SMS, Stanbic IBTC ATMs, email, its mobile office, mobile app, and the Pension Guru online.

    “In our 12 years of existence, we have emerged Nigeria’s leading PFA with over one million retirement savings account holders and assets under management in excess of N1 trillion, paying more than N2.1 billion to over 37,000 retirees monthly. Over N200 billion has been paid to retirees since we commenced operations in 2005.”

  • Court orders police to pay retiree N5.7m, 10% pension benefits

    Court orders police to pay retiree N5.7m, 10% pension benefits

    •Police to pay N700,000 litigation cost

    In Industrial Court in Lagos has ordered the Police to pay a retired policeman, Inspector Samson Amadasun, his N5.74 million pension and gratuities.

    The court also ruled that the Police should pay the retiree10 per cent interest on the arrears of salaries, pension and gratuities from July 2012 till date and N700,000 as a cost of litigation.

    The court stated that falure to pay the arrears within 30 days will result to additional 21 per cent.

    Amadasun had in February, last year sought redress from the court against his employer, the Police Service Commission, Inspector-General of Police, the Pension Department, Nigeria Police and the National Pension Commission (PenCom) for unjustly and unlawfully withholding his salary arrears, pension, gratuities and other benefits since he was reinstated and retired on July 27, 2012.

    Counsel to the retiree (claimant), Kehinde Bamiwole of Kehinde Hassan Bamiwole & Co. in the claimant’s final written address, said the retiree was enrolled into the Nigeria Police on January 1, 1974.

    He stated that he rose to the rank of Corporal in 1980 and between 1983 and 1984, he was promoted Sergeant. He was promoted Inspector of Police in 1994.

    He said the claimant was suspended and dismissed from the services of the Police on the December 15, 1997 but was later given a letter, stating that he had been reinstated.

    According to him, the defendants realised the injustice meted out to the claimant who did nothing wrong before he was suspended, dismissed, reinstated and later retired on September 27, 2012.

    He said: “The claimant thereafter made formal demands for the payments of his salary arrears from December 1997 to July 2012 together with his pensions, gratuities and other entitlements. The claimant made all efforts to get his entitlements paid.

    “One DCP Ayo Akinsanmi of the defendants even wrote a letter on the claimant’s behalf in order for the salary arrears, pensions and gratuities to be paid.

    “One Elochukwu Nwakwo Esq. appeared for PenCom, the 4th defendant in March 2015 and did promise the court that all the accrued of the claimant shall be paid upon the provision of some documents by the claimant.

    “The claimant made efforts and collected all the documents from appropriate offices of the first defendant, the Nigeria Police four good times, but neither verification nor payment was made to the claimant on his accrued interests from 1974 to 2004 when the repealed Pension Reform Act, 2004 came into existence and the claimant’s benefits from 2004 till he was retired in 2012.

    “The said Act introduced Contributing Pension Scheme (CPS) for the payment of retirement benefits of employees in the country. The Act has been repealed with Reform Act, 2014.

  • Shake up at NAICOM swaps Directorates heads

    The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) yesterday announced the redeployment of some Directors to new portfolios and swapping of Heads of Directorate.

    A statement endorsed by its Head, Corporate Affairs Rasaaq Sala, explained explained that AlhajiAdamu Balanti who was hitherto the Director in charge of the Research, Statistics and Information Technology Directorate now moves to the Administration and Human Resources Directorate, while Mr. Amos Michael Habila who was in charge of Administration and Human Resources is now the Director of Research and Statistics.

    “In the same vein, Mr. Nicholas Opara who until date was the Director of Supervision now moves to the Finance and Accounts Directorate to replace the erstwhile Director, Mr. Olufemi Oluniyi Oba who has also been redeployed to oversee the Supervision Directorate.

    ‘The Directors have been enjoined to remain focused and dedicated to the mandate of the Commission as they settled into their new roles,” the statement added.